Lesson 34. GHEE DEFINITION, STANDARDS AND COMPOSITION

Module 11. Ghee and butteroil

Lesson 34
GHEE DEFINITION, STANDARDS AND COMPOSITION

34.1 Introduction

At present, about 28% of the total milk production is utilized for the manufacture of about one million ton of ghee per annum. Ghee is a product of tradition with an established market prepared at household level, also at organized dairy plants. Ghee manufacture has great significance and relevance to Indian masses and the dairy industry there is sufficient recorded evidence to prove that the manufacture of ghee originated in India and it has been used extensively for dietary and religious purposes since Vedic times (3000-2000 B.C).

34.2 Necessity for Production of Ghee


India is a tropical country with wider variations in ambient temperature from region to region and from season to season. It is very difficult provide a cold chain to protect perishable products like milk and butter for longer time, also this exercise involves additional investment and expenditure. Thus simple, convenient and affordable process to preserve milk fat would favor the milk producers and processors to a greater extent.

Whenever milk left with producer, they experience great difficulty to preserve it, with available resources with them conversion of ghee to malai and then from malai to ghee was found to be the only affordable and convenient way to preserve milk fat at ambient temperature at household level.

● Ghee is a very popular product since from ancient time and have greater demand during festival and other ceremonial functions where use of ghee in food has been considered to delicacy due to its pleasing flavour and aroma.

● Best ways to salvage substandard and returned market milk at commercial dairy level is separation of fat from these and convert this fat to ghee.

● Ghee has a market demand of around one million ton per annum in India, to meet this huge demand and also involvement of simple technology to produce ghee attracts the milk processor to have ghee making plant of variable capacity.

34.3 Definition

According to FSSR-2011, ghee means the pure heat clarified fat derived solely from milk or curd or from desi (cooking) butter or from cream to which no colouring matter or preservative has been added.

Table 34.1 FSSR-2011 Standards for ghee state wise in India

Sl. No.

Name of the State / Union Territory

Butyro Refractometer reading at 400C

Min. Reichert Value

Percentage of

FFA as oleic acid (max.)

Moisture (Max.)

1

Andhra Pradesh

40.0 to 43.0

24

3

0.5

2

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

40.0 to 43.0

24

3

0.5

3

Arunachal Pradesh

41.0 to 44.0

26

3

0.5

4

Assam

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

5

Bihar

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

6

Chandigarh

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

7

Chattisgarh

40.0 to 44.0

26

3

0.5

8

Dadra and Nagar haveli

40.0 to 43.0

24

3

0.5

9

Delhi

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

10

Goa

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

11

Daman & Diu

40.0 to 43.5

24

3

0.5

12

Gujarat





12a

Areas other than cotton tract areas

40.0 to 43.5

24

3

0.5

12b

Cotton tract areas

41.5 to 45.0

21

3

0.5

13

Haryana





13a

Areas other than cotton tract areas

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

13b

Cotton tract areas

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

14

Himachal Pradesh

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

15

Jammu & Kashmir

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

16

Jharkhand

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

17

Karnataka



3

0.5

17a

Areas other than Belgaum district

40.0 to 43.0

24

3

0.5

17b

Belgaum district

40.0 to 44.0

26

3

0.5

18

Kerala

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

19

Lakshwadeep

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

20

Madhya Pradesh





20a

Areas other than cotton tract areas

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

20b

Cotton tract areas

41.5 to 45.0

21

3

0.5

21

Maharashtra





21a

Areas other than cotton tract areas

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

21b

Cotton tract areas

41.5 to 45.0

21

3

0.5

22

Manipur

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

23

Meghalya

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

24

Mizoram

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

25

Nagaland

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

26

Orisssa

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

27

Pondicherry

40.0 to 44.0

26

3

0.5

28

Punjab

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

29

Rajasthan





29a

Areas other than Jodhpur District

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

29b

Jodhpur District

41.5 to 45.0

21

3

0.5

30

Tamil Nadu

41.0 to 44.0

24

3

0.5

31

Tripura

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

32

Uttar Pradesh

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

33

Uttarakhand

40.0 to 43.0

26

3

0.5

34

West Bengal





34a

Areas other than Bishnupur sub division

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

34b

Bishnupur sub division

41.5 to 45.0

21

3

0.5

34

Sikkim

40.0 to 43.0

28

3

0.5

34.4 Product Description and Chemical Composition of Ghee

Ghee could be in liquid, semisolid and some time in solid state based on the storage temperature. Ghee made from buffalo milk is whitish with greenish tinge and that of cow milk is golden yellow colour. It is usually prepared form cow milk, buffalo milk or mixed milk.

Composition: Ghee is a complex lipid of glycerides (majorly triglycerides), free fatty acids, phospholipids, sterols, sterol esters, fat soluble vitamins, carbonyls, hydrocarbons, carotenoids, (only in ghee derived from cow milk). Its detailed chemical composition is given below.

Table 34.2 Chemical composition of ghee

Constituents

Cow milk ghee

Buffalo milk ghee

Fat (%)

99 – 99.5

99 – 99.5

Moisture (%)

<0.5

<0.5

Carotene(mg/g)

3.2-7.4

-

Vitamin A(IU/g)

19-34

17-38

Cholesterol (mg/100g)

302 – 362

209 – 312

Tocopherol(mg/g)

26 – 48

18 – 31

Free fatty acid (%)

2.8

2.8


Source: (R.P.Aneja et al., Technology of Indian milk products, Dairy India publication. Section 3.4: Fat rich dairy products, page 187.)

Milk fat contains at least 500 fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives with 4 – 20 or more carbon atoms in their chain. The fatty acid may saturated or unsaturated and usually contains an even number of carbon atoms. Composition of fatty acid also varies between buffalo milk fat and cow milk fat. Following table shows detailed composition of buffalo milk and cow milk fatty acid composition.


Table 34.3 Fatty acid composition of ghee

Fatty Acid (%)

Buffalo milk fat

Cow milk fat

Butyric

4.4

3.2

Caproic

1.5

2.1

Capric

1.3

2.6

Lauric

1.8

2.8

Myristic

10.8

11.9

Palmitic

33.1

30.6

Stearic

12.0

10.1

Oleic

27.2

27.4

Linoleic

1.5

1.5

Linolenic

0.5

0.6


Source: R.P.Aneja et al., Technology of Indian milk products, Dairy India publication. Section 3.4: Fat rich dairy products, page 186

Last modified: Monday, 5 November 2012, 11:10 AM